Twitter to let all users filter tweets for higher 'quality'

NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter is making a "quality filter" available to all users, allowing them to hide tweets that contain threats, appear to be automated or spammy.

The feature was previously only available to users with "verified" accounts, which are typically celebrities, public figures or journalists, and who can be identified by a blue checkmark next to the username.

The company said in a blog post Thursday that the filter does not hide content from users that a person is following or has interacted with on Twitter.

Users will also have the ability to only see notifications from accounts they follow on the service. This might help people, for example, who don't want to see a barrage of abusive tweets directed at them. But it won't actually delete the tweets themselves.